Found this video on Movies.com in their Movies News section. The video was made by a Brooklyn, New York based Internet comedy troupe POYKPAC Comedy. You can find them on FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/POYKPAC. Writer-Director-Editor Ryan Hunter.

I think this was very well done. Its evident Ryan Hunter took his time choosing every line carefully. Some of these movies are before my time and I had never heard of them (I do watch old movies, love them, even the old bad effects). I liked the video so much I had to share. I will say this though, while I like the added movie posters for each movie title used, I find it very distracting in the middle of the screen. That’s really the only thing I can find wrong with this video 🙂

My oldest son will be 11 soon, and yes he is changing right before my eyes. This both terrifies me and makes me happy, because he is growing up. I struggle to balance my work and my family like most other parents out there in the world, and there are times we feel as though we are failing. My sons grades have started to slip, they are still good grades but almost all of them down from the beginning of the year. I can see his frustration, but when I try to help he gets angry with me. He used to love reading and doesn’t any more. His teachers tell me how smart he is, and the reasons for his slipping grades are small and fixable, but he wont cooperate with me. I know I don’t spend enough time with my children ether, and he is in a lot of extra activities all year long. I am hoping things will get better this summer when he and I will have time to write the story he wants to do with me, but I don’t know how to help him now.

Any parents out there in my position before or now? I wouldn’t normally post something like this on my blog, but is this not like a community? So I thought I would ask from others who have been there done that. As much as I hate to admit it, I wasn’t exactly given the best child raising skills growing up, I learned a bit what not to do. So I am feeling a little lost, groping my way through the dark. What have you done?

I know it has been a long time seance I did an Artist of the week post, now that I can do them again I have decided to branch out. Now instead of the posts being called ‘Artist of thew Week’ it will be ‘Art of the Week’, giving me a chance to share more forms of art I enjoy, including things like musicals that have multiple people who work on them. The only shame is this moth will be short seance I ran out of time to post last Friday while I was getting ready for camping.

At first I was going to do this month on classical music, and I will do it another month, but this month changed all on its own, it said “no I want to be different for the first month back”. Here we are, I am doing it differently.

This weeks focus is on one of my favorite musicals, Moulin Rouge. Why musicals this month, well its simple, I love musicals and grew up watching them. From costumes to music the creativity level is through the roof when it comes to the best musicals.

Moulin Rouge

The Plot

The film opens in the year 1900, as a struggling writer named Christian sits at his desk and begins to write on his typewriter. One year before he moved to the Montmartre district of Paris, despite his father he was determined to become a writer among members of the area’s Bohemian movement. By chance he encounters performers from the Moulin Rouge led by Henri de Toulouse-Lautred (Played by John Leguizamo), Christian’s writing skills allow them to finish their proposed show “Spectacular Spectacular” that they wish to sell to Harold Zidler (Played by Jim Broadbent),owner of the Moulin Rouge. The group takes Christian to the Moulin Rouge, they arrive just as Zidler and his “Diamond Dog Dancers” perform for their audience. Toulouse-Lautrec arranges for Christain to meet with Satine, the star Courtesan,
in her private quarters to present his work. Unaware to all Zidler is promising Satine to the wealthy Duke of Monroth, a potential investor in the cabaret. Early in the film, toward the end of Satine’s first performance in the film, it is made evident she suffers from tuberculosis.

Satine mistakes Christian for the Duke she is to seduce, she dances with him before retiring to her private chamber so that they mite discuss things ‘privately’ with him. Soon she learns that he is simply a writer, by that time he has already fallen head over heals in love with her. The Duke interrupts them, finding them in a somewhat compromising position: Christian and Satine think quickly and claim they were simply practicing the lines for the Moulin Rouge’s new show (Spectacular Spectacular). With the help of the surprised Zidler, Toulouse-Lautrec and the rest of the troop they pitch the show to the Duke with an improvised plot about an evil maharajah attempting to woo an Indian courtesan who is in love with a poor sitar player. The Duke agrees to back the show on one condition, he and he only is allowed to see Satine. Meanwhile, Satine contemplates on Christian and her own longing to leave the Moulin Rouge to become a real actress. Later Christian goes back to Satine and attempts to convince her that she is in love with him. As the cabaret is converted into a theater the two continue seeing each other under the pretense of rehearsing Satine’s lines.The Duke becomes jealous and warns Zidler that
he may stop funding the show; Zidler then arranges for Satine to dine with the Duke that very evening, but during practice she falls ill. That night Zidler makes excuses to the Duke, he claims Satine has gone to confession so that she may be pure for the Duke. Zidler learns that Satine’s tuberculosis had worsened, and that she dose not have long to live.Satine tries to convince Christian that their relationship endangers the show and her chances of becoming a true actress, but he counters by writing a new song into the performance, a secret love song to affirm their love.

As the Duke watches Christain rehearses with Satine, a rather jealous performer, Nini (played by Caroline O’Connor), so ‘nicely’ points out that the play is in fact a metaphor for the Duke, Christian and Satine. The enraged Duke demands that the play’s ending be changed so that the courtesan ends up with the maharajah and not the sitar player; Satine offers to spend the night with the Duke so they can keep the original ending. As Satine stands at the window in the Duke’s quarters she sees Christian on the street below, and she realizes she can’t go through with it. The Duke attempts to rap her, but she is saved by Le Chocolate (Played by Deobia Oparei), one of the cabaret’s dancers, and reunited with Christian, who urges her to run away with him. The Duke goes to Zidler and tells him he will have Christian killed if Satine is not his alone. Zidler gives Satine the Dukes warning, but she refuses to return, Zidler then finally informs her that she is dying. Fearing for Christian’s life Satine tells Christian they can no longer see each other as she will be staying with the Duke. Christian tries to follow her into the Moulin Rouge, but is denied entry, he then falls into a deep depression, even though Toulouse-Lautrec insists Satine dose love him.

The night of the show Christian sneaks into the Moulin Rouge, ready to pay Satine to return his love just as the Duke had paid for her. He catches Satine before she steps onto the stage, he demands she tells him that she dose not love him. Suddenly they find themselves in the spotlight; improvising Zidler convinces the audience that Christian is in fact the sitar player in disguise. Angrily Christian denounces Satine and storms off stage. Toulouse-Lautrec cries out from the rafters “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return”, spurring Satine to sing the secret love song Christian wrote to express their love. He returns to the stage to join her in their song. The Duke’s bodyguard tries to kill Christian, but is stopped by Toulouse-Lautrec and La Petite Princess (a dancer in the Moulin Rouge played by Kiruna Stamell), while the Duke’s own attempt on Christians life is thwarted by Zidler.Realizing he has lost the Duke storms out of the Cabaret as Christian and Satine complete their song.

However after the curtain closes Satine finally succumbs to Tuberculosis. She and Christian have their final moment together, affirming their love before she dies. A year later the Moulin Rouge stands empty, and Christian is writing the tale of his love for Satine, a “love that will live forever”.

Moulin Rouge is an epic love story that doesn’t end in the typical happily ever after fashion of most love stories out there. Instead it ends with one of the main characters (Satine played by Nicole Kidman) dying. I think I love this ending because life its self is real, its not full of happy ever after endings, we get hurt, we love, we learn, we live, we die. To me this ending is more true to life, yes Christian (played by Ewan McGregor) looses the love of his life, but his journey and what he learns about himself along the way is profound, because of this grate loss he becomes the writer he set out to be, thanks to the knowledge he gained of true love, profound loss, and conflict. He is forever changed by that short time in his life, as we can be changed by one small moment, by one person, by a new experience.

I love the music in the movie because its a mix of classical, big band, rock, pop, and latin (excuse me if I missed any). Just in case you haven’t seen the movie here are two of my favorite songs 🙂

Kristen lamb’s blog has been a grate source of advice for me on my journey as a writer, and this post is no exception. Such a awesome post in fact I thought I would share it with all of you as well. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 🙂

My oldest son is ten, and when school starts up for the new year he will be going into 5th grade. For the first time he got homework over the summer, a work packet, and to read a book of his choice. He had chosen Journey To The Center Of The Earth, I was so proud. It’s a shame he lost it, we think one of his brothers hid it. He chose a new one he devoured in a rather short time for him, The Last Star Fighter. Now I had watched this movie when I was around his age, I didn’t even know they had mad a book based off the movie, so I decided to read the book because I’m helping him do his diorama. A few pages in I realized “Wow, this sucks!”. Now that may sound harsh, but Its not a very well written book. Its an Omnipotent POV, for those of you who may not know this POV let me explain. The Omnipotent POV is a voice that can be anywhere and in anyone’s head, at any given time. I have been told this is the hardest POV to write, I can’t say for sure that’s true as I have never tried it. Even as a child I felt more comfortable writing in first person. I feel the writer had to use this point of view as they where most likely stipulations as far as do’s and don’ts, but what was the point in making the book if they where not going to improve the story. Needles to say I’m disappointed, someone can simply watch the movie and cheat as my oldest son so eloquently pointed out to me. He has a good point, so now he has me thinking could this be rewritten, and how would someone go about doing that?

I have to applaud my son, he is fallowing in his mothers footsteps, only he is better with instruments then me 🙂 He has started writing his own novel, so I told him he could do a better job if he works hard and keeps at it like everything else he dose. Instead of the same old “The sky is the limit” I tell my son “Reach for the stars, and you can go far”. He may not believe he is ready for school, and these more advanced books and homework, but I know he is. He is smart and determined, and after all my son, if he can realize all of that on his own I know he has nothing to worry about. So reach for the stars my son, I know you are going far in life.

Happy writing all 🙂 and look for my Artist of the week post starting back up on Friday.

This advice is grate applied to any passion you may have in live. As I commented, should someone ask me this question I would say “Yes, this is what I must do. I think about writing every day, and feel as though I will go crazy when I can’t.” I hate it when I have days I can’t write at all because I always have some grate idea pop into my head, be it a part for my novel, a little poem or something else, and if I don’t get to write it down I end up loosing it all together. I hate that! Its a good read check it out.